Parents of Manatee READERS!

Two weeks of instruction have hurled by at the speed of light and students are settling in to our new reading curriculum with engaged excitement! Both Benchmark Advance (K-5) and Savvas (gr.6) have been well received by teachers and students alike.

As the teachers conclude their “launch” units over the next few weeks, you may notice a few differences from our legacy curricular elements. Benchmark Advance and Savvas use a combination of large-group, small group, and individual texts to teach foundational skills and encourage a gradual release of responsibility for learning to the student.

This style supports a transition to a love of life-long learning and sets students up for independence as they move through elementary to secondary and beyond. One example of change is less focus on summative assessment (like spelling tests) in favor of formative assessment (like exit tickets) that help teachers to chart a course for each student’s success. When students have opportunity to demonstrate what they know, teachers are then able to use that data to intentionally plan for instruction.

So what does that mean for the gradebook? You will start to see fewer grades in gradebook for ELA, but those grades will be the result of more meaningful assessment! When you think about baseball or football, we don’t keep score at daily practice- we reserve the score (or grade) for the weekly game.

Please remember if you have any concern about your child’s learning, by all means- contact the teacher! He or she is your partner in education and the teacher-student-parent triangle is the single most powerful predictor of student success!

Jace Wicker, Abigail Watson, and Camden Wicker, pictured above, are not just former Manatees but awesome volunteers. They spent countless days this summer putting in the sweat equity to give our Manatee Meadow a complete facelift. We appreciate all of their hard work and cannot wait to utilize our outdoor classroom this school year!